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Friday, February 21, 2014

Political Correctness Gone Too Far

I'm just going to come right out and say it....I am NOT a fan of political correctness to the extremes it is being seen in the US today. Here are just a few examples that irritate me:1) In some schools you can't call the board a "blackboard".

2) Birthdays cannot be celebrated in some schools anymore because Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate them.

3) Any reference to Christmas in public nowadays is taboo due to the assumption that people of all other religions are offended by it. (The whole Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas debate comes to mind)4) Some nursery schools have changed "Baa Baa Black Sheep" to "Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep." (Have you ever seen a rainbow sheep?)5) A 7 year old child being called a racist for asking someone if they are brown because they come from Africa. (Kids ask questions--that's how they learn!!)6) School policies that say discipline has to be proportionate between races...you can't punish more blacks than whites, or vice versa. (What if the school has more of one race than the other???)7) Sports teams that don't keep score, so "everyone wins."8) Sports teams being compelled to change their nicknames to avoid hurt feelings. (Why did a team like the Redmen have to change their name, but a team like the Blue Devils is still okay?) The original intent of "political correctness"--to encourage tact and sensitivity toward other people's feelings regarding issues like gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, physical abilities, etc.--was a good one. In practice, however, people are going so far that now ANY mention of those issues is seen as politically incorrect. How can we talk about our differences, and learn from those different than us, if we're afraid of being labeled a "racist," "sexist," or some other sort of bigot? To me, these extreme examples of political correctness are worsening the divide rather than closing it.

It's time to take another look at political correctness and dial it back a few notches!